Norwegian Facebook groups of interest to descendants of Christian Bersvendsen Busath (“Christian”) are reviewed below.
Rognes og Støren før i Tia is a private Facebook group focused on the history of Rognes and Støren, which is of interest because Christian was born and raised on a farm in Støren. Although it is a private Facebook page, it has been easy to join upon request. And it has provided some interesting information concerning our relatives in Norway.
One example is the picture below of the family of Christian’s niece, Gjertrud Eriksdatter (1871-1945), who married Ole Olsen Røskaft (1856-1920).
Gjertrud is seated on the left. Her husband Ole is seated on the right. With them are five of their six children, identified from left to right as son Trygve (1907-1996), daughter Bergljot (1894-1970), son Olaf (1898-1953), daughter Gundrun (1894-1969), and son Kåre (1903-1972). Missing is son Einar (1901-1966).
The picture was taken in the family home by the photographer Wellin who made the five-mile trip from Trondheim with camera and equipment. On the table in the foreground, you will notice a framed picture. Compare it with the picture below of Christian and his family taken in 1898 before he went to Norway on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and you will see that Christian gave at least one copy of the picture to his family in Norway.
Bygdabladet for Støren, Rognes og Snøan is a public Facebook page that focuses on news and history about Støren and the nearby towns of Rognes og Snøan. It is of interest because it provides photographs and information about the area where Christian lived before emigrating from Norway.
One example is this photograph of the Ner-Spjeldet farm where Christian lived.
The post by the picture explains, “The farm was built in 1845 by [Christian’s father] Bersvend Buseth. Here, among other things, he ran his dyeing business. The last owners of the farm were Ingeborg and Erik Buset. Ner-Spjøldet was demolished around 1970.” Erik Buset, or John Erik Buseth, was the son of Christian’s brother, Erik Buseth.
Another example is the picture below of the area surrounding the Ner-Spjeldet farm.
The Ner-Spjeldet farm is seen in this picture from the opposite angle as the prior picture, lying at the bottom of the hill. To the right are two farms—Vinjar in the back and Fredhjem in the front. Further right at the top of the hill, behind the principal tree in the foreground, is Øver-Spjeldet. Before leaving on his mission to Norway, Christian was baptized in the Logan Temple on behalf of a few close family members and friends. One of those friends was Christian Bødtker who lived on the Fredhjem farm and who had died in 1874.
A Note on Translation
Many of the posts in the Facebook groups discussed above are in Norwegian. Facebook provides an automatic translation into English. The translation may be useful in the first instance. But it would be wise to double check the translation with other resources, such as Google Translate, a good Norwegian-English Dictionary, or someone who speaks Norwegian.
One example is the post regarding the Fredhjem farm, which tells us that the farmhouse was built by “prost Bødtker” in the 1860s. The Facebook translation of the post identified “prost Bødtker” as a prostitute, which is obviously wrong. Google Translate identified “prost Bødtker” as “Reverend Bødtker,” using an English title that does not clarify his role in the Norwegian clergy. W.A. Kirkeby’s Norsk-Engelsk ordbok, on the other hand, explains that “prost” is a “rector in charge of several parishes” and could be translated as “senior rector.” It provides a better understanding of Bødtker’s role and the impact he must have had on young Christian who felt impressed years after he left Norway to do temple work on his behalf.